Description:I can only speak for myself. A watcher, a doer, a carer, a wife, a mother. I'm an American-Israeli Messianic Jewish Jerusalemite. I've spent nearly all my adult life here, and I've matured in between war and peace encounters. There is always something new to learn, something sharp and unexpected to challenge my views. I accept this challenge, and willingly wrestle with it. I value people and relationships, and I strive to see the common humanity between all of us in this city's diversity. I love this mad, beautiful city for its multiculturalism and history. I hurt for this city of pain and hatred, where 'unified' is a political term with positive/negative connotations depending on one's political leaning. Moments of beauty and pain can be found everywhere. I hold tight to moments of hope and redemption, snapshots of what this city can be if we all work to make it a better one.

Why are you involved in this blog?Unite, unity, unified. Aren't they nice words? I used to think so. Until I moved here and understood a bit more. And it is not such a nice word. Unity in the body. Unity in the city. What it really means is one side (the stronger one) asserting its dominance over the weaker one. Of one side (the weaker one) losing its voice to the other one. Of women losing their voice to male leaders or to satisfy the patriarchal system in our societies and religious communities. So unity is not a nice word for me. A nicer word for me now is "together." It isn't forced, as in the false 'togetherness' of the city, where you cross a line and are looked at with contempt. It is a choice, to be together, to live together, to make the best of the situation, and to make it better. My hope for the future? To choose to live together, and to work toward making that better for the other side, not just for my own.